SRO America Launches eSports Series Sunday

MONTEREY, Calif. – The grid is set for the inaugural SRO America GT Rivals eSports Invitational this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Drivers will go head-to-head in the first round of esports competition in the GT racing simulation game Assetto Corsa Competizione at virtual WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

An all-star cast of drivers from SRO America’s series – GT World Challenge America powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America, TC America, and GT Sports Club America – will challenge the 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit set in the hills of Monterey county. They’ll be joined by five Champion Motorsports sim racing league regulars for an epic battle down the Corkscrew.

The GT3 machinery featured in Assetto Corsa Competizione features all the current brands and nine will be represented in this weekend’s contest including Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes-AMG, Nissan, and Porsche.

Competing in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo will be GT World Challenge America powered by AWS series regulars Kyle Marcelli and Shelby Blackstock. They’ll be joined by fellow HPD drivers Jacob Abel, a stand-out formula car racer in the Honda Formula Regional America series, and two-time Pirelli World Challenge TCA and TCB champion Tom O’Gorman.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT3 is new to SRO America competition and will make its debut in GT Rivals with Kenton Koch stepping up from his BSPort Racing GT4 Vantage. Pirelli GT4 America driver James Pesek and TC America challenger Steve Streimer also look to take advantage of the new platform in this Sunday’s race.

The Bentley Boys are back with the K-PAX Racing duo of Guy Cosmo and Patrick Byrne representing their real world racer. Pirelli GT4 America racer Karl Wittmer levels up from his BMW M4 GT4 to the BMW M6 GT3. With 2018 Pirelli World Challenge Champion Parker Chase making his series return in an Audi R8 LMS GT3. Alec Udell will also return to SRO America competition after a successful campaign in Europe, winning the GT4 European championship, and will join Chase in and Audi R8 LMS GT3.

Last but not least, Porsche will feature six entries with the 991.2 GT3 R. COTA AM winner Max Root will lead the Porsche charge with Pirelli GT4 America Porsche drivers Jason Bell, Derek Deboer, Sean and Gibbons competing. Nicolai Elghanayan trades in his real world KTM X-Bow GT4 for a Porsche this weekend with TC America COTA podium finisher Nikko Reger setting up into GT3.

All the action from the first round of GT Rivals goes live on the SRO Motorsports Twitch channel, GT World YouTube channel, and GT World Challenge America Facebook page this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.